Itinerary [27-05-08]

[M] 02 June : London - Copenhagen (Denmark)
[T] 03 June: Copenhagen
[W] 04 June: Copenhagen - Prague (Czechoslovakia)
[T] 05 June: Prague
[F] 06 June: Prague
[S] 07 June: Olomouc - Krakow (Poland)
[S] 08 June: Krakow
[M] 09 June: Krakow - Zakopane
[T] 10 June: Zakopane - Budapest (Hungary)
[W] 11 June: Budapest
[T] 12 June: Budapest - Plitvice (Croatia)
[F] 13 June: Plitvice - Split
[S] 14 June: Split - Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
[S] 15 June: Mostar
[M] 16 June: Mostar - Sarajevo
[T] 17 June: Sarajevo
[W] 18 June: Sarajevo - Sutjeska National Park - Kotor (Montenegro)
[T] 19 June: Sveti Stefan - Budva - Kotor
[F] 20 June: Kotor - Dubrovnik (Croatia)
[S] 21 June: Dubrovnik - Split
[S] 22 June: Split - Zagreb
[M] 23 June: Zagreb - London
[T] 24 June: London
[W] 25 June: London - Singapore
[T] 26 June: Arrival Changi Airport 1755

Update [01-06-08]

I'm such world-class procrastinator. Leaving tomorrow and i still have not started packing. I still have not changed my British pounds to the other 7 different kinds of currencies i'm gonna need. I still have not etc etc etc. Sigh...

My first solo backpacking trip and i'm still kind of in a mess right now. Not really sure what is in store for me in the next 3 weeks to come...

Anyway, i think i can only update this blog when i return to S'pore. Till then -> 26th June onwards =)

London (Stansted) - Copenhagen [02-06-08]

It was officially the first day of my tour. With both of my rucksacks ready, i made my way down to Victoria Coach Station to catch the easybus to Stansted airport. Along the way, i caught sight of a few young indian girls and boys risking their lives amidst the rushhour traffic trying to wipe the windows of passing vehicles to earn a living. I was stunned at this sight for i thought this could only happen in poor countries and definitely not in London. This might just be an indication of the increasing polarisation within the London society.

My flight to Copenhagen was severely delayed. Probably the word 'severe' is a bit too exaggerated but it was still an hour of delay. I arrived at Copenhagen airport at 1800 and i did have trouble trying to find the hostel. I tried to call the hostel to confirm my booking (as they will cancel reservation if i arrive after 1800 without prior notification) but my sim card was not working. When i tried to use the public phones at the airport, all of them for no apparent reason started to have weird problems. i gave up and decided to get out of the arrival hall. When i left the luggage check, i was totally lost and had not the slightest idea how to get to the city centre. All i did was to join a long queue at the ticket counter, bought a train ticket and hopped on the train not having any assurance that i was taking the right one as all the signs were in Martian language. I was thinking to myself: this is only Denmark and i'm having so much problems, can you imagine what it will be like in Eastern Europe?

After a few train stops, i got off at the Central Station and followed the signs pointing to the tourist information. I walked the whole compound twice and did not see any tourist information kiosk at all. Just then i saw 2 Chinese girls at the ticketing booth holding a map and i got a tourist map from the booth. However, even with the map, i could not make out where was my exact location. With a prior vague knowledge that the hostel's a long H.C. Anderson Road, i took a risk and walked in the direction where my intuition pointed. Thank God i reached the hostel and it was an expensive 65 euros for 2 nights stay.

I was by then too hungry to venture further away from the hostel. I seek dinner solace at a nearby BK and had a meal which cost 18 sing dollars. Talking about pricey. And did i mention how 'cui' the hostel is? Gosh, it's definitely not worth the money and it's just plain bad. Nice exterior with a rotting core.

Copenhagen [03-06-08]

I did not sleep well last night. Apparently this guy woke up in the middle of the night to smoke n the toilet and the cigarette smell filled up the whole room. I almost died choking in the smog. I left the hostel at around 7 and tried to find a decent place for breakfast. Since i ain't exactly a big fan of pastries and bread, i skipped breakfast hoping to save some money for a decent lunch which on hind sight did not come to fruition.

I chanced upon an area of nice architecture during a walk. It was somewhere at burgorgade, with houses in old Danish architecture and colours worthy of ICI Dulux advertisement. I continued my walk to the bay to find the little mermaid. After snapping some shots of that bronze statue, i took a breather on a bench by the coast. As i closed my eyes and relaxed myself, i felt so free and relieved of everything. At that time i resolved to take my time and relax for this trip knowing there's no point rushing all about cos that's not my definition of a holiday.

A visit to the Denmark Lutheran Church 'Marble' left me in awe. It was a dome-shaped building with a really exquisite and unique interior. There were 12 apostles painted on the ceiling with the symbol of trinity at the very top.

Watched the military band doing their rehearsal at the Rosenbog. They were really solid and their steps were all in line and neat. This kind of reminded me of the super terok change of guards at Windsor Castle. =P Anyway i followed the guards to the palace for the change of guards and an unfortunate catastrophe struck. Apparently during the change of guards, someone pickpocketed my camera... my Canon PowerShot A570. I guess i could blame no one but myself for being too careless and i had no choice but to continue the trip with my camera phone. Feeling really upset, i bought McDonald's for lunch and ate the meal by the bay while writing postcards to my family and friends. This event totally killed my mood to tour but i persisted to capture some important photos (shown below) with my phone.

The walking street was really crowded with people. It was interesting to find people opening up a chess set in front of them waiting for someone to come challenge him/her. Some were playing poker cards and others were peddling goods. I bought a pretty oily but cheap Chinese takeaway for dinner. One thing i observed, Copenhagen was filled with vandalism and no one seemed to want to clear them at all.

Sad sad day
At Kastelliat
Little Mermaid
Nyhaun
Marble

Copenhagen - Prague [04-06-08]

A pretty 'old' Taiwanese couple checked into the room last night and i had a conversation with them. It's pretty weird to see 40 plus 50 years old couple staying overnight at youth hostels. I guess that's the cheapest accomodation option around.

It's a clear blue sky morning with no clouds in sight. Come to think of it, i have not seen any clouds for the past 2 days in Copenhagen. Well, my sun-burnt exposed areas were testament to that. Checked out of my hotel and left for terminal 2 for my flight to Prague. Had my breakfast at the terminal - sandwich and a 1 litre milk. I was shocked to see that the prices of mineral water (500ml - 15knn to 20 knn) were much higher than that of milk (1 litre - 8knn). Why didn't i realise this earlier? Gosh, i would most happily drink milk like water.

During check-in, the guy serving me asked me for my visa. When i explained to him that there was no need of visa to enter into Prague, he replied with "visa like those in China". At that point of time i was pretty offended with him equating Singaporean with mainland Chinese. To me, that's like calling a Scottish and English. I really felt like telling him in the face that Singapore is not part of China and NEVER was.

Met a fellow Singaporean who's on the way to Prague too. Apparently he's going to Prague to meet up with his friends for tour in Europe. He's also on exchange but in Denmark and i really admire him for his ability to survive in such an expensive country.

Reached Prague and took a bus to the main rail station where i could get a tram to Plus Prague hostel. During the bus ride, i felt like i was in Malaysia. I mean the landscape really resembled those in Malaysia. The sky was overcasted with dark clouds and it began to rain quite heavily. At least it's a rest day for my sun-burnt skin. The tourist info centre at the train station was very attentive and helpful, directing me to walk to Plus Prague instead of wasting 14 czk on the tram.

Plus Prague hostel seemed to be more like a hotel than a hostel. I would say it has the cost of a hostel but facilities like a hotel. It's 677 czk for 2 nights which is about 12 sterling pounds per night. The hostel has facilities like a beach volleyball court, table-tennis table, a pub/club, internet, swimming pool, sauna rooms, kitchens, lobby lounge etc. I went swimming for the 2 nights i was there and it was great workout. Look forward to the next day for my tour in the old town.

Prague [05-06-08]

I spent the morning at the Old Town absorbing the atmosphere around me. I was deciding to go for one of the guided walking tours of the castle at 1100. The compound in front of the Town Hall was crowded with people and i really loved the atmosphere. In fact, i loved the whole city of Prague for its just so full of beauty and charm. The whole place oozes with culture: the Renaissance architecture, cobbledstone pavement, jazz and classical musicians etc. It's really funny how it's normal to see posters advertising for some dance party or pop concerts in london. However in Prague, all the posters you see pasted around the town are concerts of Vivaldi or Mozart or Bach. It's pretty amazing actually.

The Town Hall with the astronomical clock.

Passing a garden with some hawks on the way to the castle

the interior of an old cathedral in the castle compound

After the castle tour, i went for a shopping spree downtown. Bought 2 bottoms and 1 T-shirt. Then it's off to explore the old town again. It's a normal sight to see people painting by the river, in fact, i see people painting everywhere in the town. Charles Bridge was pretty crowded when i was crossing it. I couldn't help but stop track to listen to this jazz band playing on the bridge. Music, art, culture - they're everywhere in Prague. It's pure impossibility to shun from them. One more thing which i've observed was that the city is very clean... almost to the point of spotless.

A view of Prague city from the hill of the castle

Some museum
This is the philharmonic orchestra concert hall
And of cos the ever so crowded Charles Bridge
However, from the local guide, 75% of the population in Czech Republic are atheists. This is partly due to the Communist regime as well as the disillusionment of religion due to 300 plus years of conflict between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. I felt a sense of sadness seeing most if not all of the cathedrals being turned into music halls and museums. I wonder if there's any evangelistic outreach in this country at all.

Went back to my hostel for dinner. I totally forgot that risotto is rice and in the end i ordered something which was like seafood mui fun. It's not that bad considering i needed to digest the food fast for a night swim.

In the middle of the night, this bunch of NZlanders came in making lots of noise. I couldn't sleep the whole night because of the din - all because of this stupid party that was going on the whole night at the club. Apparently the room consisted of some guys and girls and this guy came in in the middle of the night without his underwear and walked around half-naked... with girls in the room. And from another bed came this guy challenging this girl for a quickie with lots of dirty talk and at that time i was just frozen stiff in my bed cos the atmosphere outside the room was no better. The whole atmosphere became so intense that it almost turned out to be a massive orgy. But thank God He answered my prayers that it did not happen. Gosh...i better get myself a ear plug soon.

Prague - Kutna Hora - Olomouc [06-06-08]

After breakfast, it was off to Kutna Hora. The guide Maardy was really humourous, and some girls think he's really cute too. But i guess i won't be saying much just in case people might get the wrong idea. Got to know a few people in the Classic Rhapsody Trek like Damien, who happened to be my seat partner throughout the trip. He's from Australia, 30+ and currently working in a printing firm. The tour consisted of a pretty matured bunch and so it was not so 'wild' as i thought it would be.

We finally arrived at Kutna Hora, the church of bones. At first when i heard 'the church of bones', i really thought it's literally made of bones. It turned out to be a church that was filled with human bones of 44,000 people. It's pretty morbid and i seriously had no idea why people would do this kind of thing. My best guess would be that it's a way to honour these people of some noble origin. It's incredible how they could use the bones to make a chandelier. Gosh.
Heaps of bones


After lunch (some sandwich) at Kutna Hora, we continued on to the town of Olomouc. On the way, the guide told us that it's interesting to note that for a meat loving country like Czech Republic, you don't really see much cattle along the way. And it was true. All i saw were pastures, trees and fields, no cattle in sight.

Frankly speaking, i was surprised to see a hotel in this middle-of-nowhere town. At first i perceived Olomouc to be like a ghost town (probably not as ghostly as Mae Sai), but after an orientation walk around the town, it was not as 'ulu-ated' as it seemed. We went to the 2nd astronomical clock in Czech Rep (1st was in Prague, 2nd was in Olomouc, and there were only the 2 of them), cathedrals after cathedrals, old roman wall, statue of Julius Caesar (the easternmost reign of Rome) etc.




Mozart composed some music at this place


After dinner at this Moravian-styled restaurant, I walked back to the hotel to catch an early wink. When i was halfway up the concourse, i heard a familiar accent --> "you all better sit down huh!". I froze stiff at the spot. Gosh, apparently there were multitudes of Singaporean kids ambushing at the concourse, and has swamped the whole hotel. It was unbelievable... in an ulu town in Czech Rep seeing a bunch of Singaporean kids. After asking a parent, i got to know that there's an international choir competition being held in Olomouc. So that's the reason.

The kids were really noisy bunch. I really felt like screaming out of my room window for them to shut up and stop disgracing themselves in foreign land (for obviously they were not the only occupants of the hotel) and i even had the thought of threatening them with a complaint letter to MOE.

Was looking forward to the Jewish concentration camp the next day.

You know, sometimes i still could not believe i was in Czech Rep. It's so cool!

Something to add on: there were various flags hanging at the entrance of the hotel. I was shocked to see a Singapore flag considering most of the flags out of the 10 were countries of the EU.

Olomouc - Auschwitz - Krakow [07-06-08]

It was a super comfortable night all the way till morning. I would say that the hotel has been the best lodging i had so far. The morning was spent battling with the Singaporean kids at the breakfast buffet table. Then it was followed by crossing the border into Poland and onward to Auschwitz.

I've always wanted to go to Auschwitz concentration camp after learning so much about the Holocaust during World War 2. At that moment, i just couldn't believe that i was standing and treading on the actual site of such atrocities and brutality witnessed in the historical photographs. The atmosphere of the place was just so surreal, accompanied with the video of the testimonies of the live witnesses who has been through the Holocaust in Imperial War Museum (London), it was thought-provoking. Walking through the empty barracks, the hanging gallows, the execution compound, the gas chambers and crematoriums, I could vividly imagine what has actually taken place here during then. It was a truly unforgettable experience.

"Work brings Freedom"
The shooting compound
Gas chamber
Barracks
Birkenau
The familiar train stop where the Jews were gathered and selected to either to go to work or to the gas chambers

After the camps, it was on to Krakow. We arrived at the hostel and the bus had to park illegally to let us off for there was no space on the road for us to alight with our luggages. I bunked in with Damien, Sunny and Carlos. The room had a tall ceiling with really high double decker beds that would require a skilled gymnast to ascend to the second level and familiar army-style lockers. the towels were too small and the bedsheets would not fit the mattress. But all in all, it's pretty not bad actually.

We walked to the town to have our dinner at a local pub. It was amazing to see old-style horse carriages at the town square but i have not the slightest idea why they kept looping in circles. Oh well. Anyway, i ordered pork chop and a light beer at the pub. Not a good choice to order the beer for i felt really bloated after the main course. It was a good thing our table ordered early and we had the meals delivered to us fast because some of the other tables waited nearly 2 hours for their food to arrive. That's insane man. Rachel, Kat, some other lady and me decided to retire early for the night. It was drizzling and we passed by this concert playing some really strange music.

I did something really stupid that night. Thinking there was no heater, i took a freezing cold shower. It's not until later on that i realised i have turned the knob the wrong way. Great...

Krakow [08-06-08]

Woke up early to find the breakfast ready on the common kitchen table. Maardy probably was right, it must have been the work of the leprechaums. I didn't even hear anyone entering the kitchen - or maybe i slept too soundly the night before.

The whole group went for a bike tour in the morning. I would suppose its a BAD idea to have a bike tour consisting of 30 plus people. It was pretty ASTONISHING that a group of us could lose the other half of the group halfway. We waited at this place with lots of chairs facing in one direction 5 metres apart from each other and encountered this shabbily dressed old man demanding money from us. He kept loitering around us touching our things and we were really uncomfortable with his presence. After much waiting, Maarty took us to some places in the Jewish quarters. I have to say that cycling on cobble-stone road was a pretty INTERESTING experience. Well, my butt did suffer.

Where John Paul II meets the Krakowians when he visits Krakow

Castle
The factory of this guy whom helped hide the Jews during the Holocaust

I had McDonald's... YES MCDONALDS for lunch. Ok, i heard it... i should be tasting their local fares instead of eating some junk from a globalised capitalist organisation. But at that time i just want something to eat and it was just there. Call it impulse if you want, and it's interesting to see how McDonald's differs from location to location. I mean its really a good place to see 'glocalisation' at work isn't it?

After lunch, i set off to explore the Jewish Quarters, especially the Jewish cemetery. Ok, i admit i do have a pretty morbid taste but i adore going to cemeteries. I find tombstones really interesting to study and am always intrigued by their architecture and stories behind every nitty details. The Jewish Cemetery was unique, with simple graves with the star of david or the torch at the top of every tombstones.

After the cemetery, its back to civilisation again. In a short note, i visited John Paul II exhibition, Church of St Mary etc etc.



A brass band performance
A streetdancing performance

A banjo performance
Church of St Mary
I really adore Krakow a lot. It's so bustling with activities like musical performances and street dances etc. On hind sight, i really love Central Europe (especially that of Czech Rep and Poland) for they are culturally and musically charged. I think it's really hard for Singapore to arrive at that kind of 'standard' for these things need to evolve naturally and spontaneously. You can't just do artificial planting of such performances on the streets and expect people to appreciate it.

Slept really early due to a careless dose of too much vodka.

Krakow - Zakopane [09-06-08]

Zakopane is a beautiful town situated at an altitude beside the Tatrys mountain range. The view of the place was simply awesome.

Just a shot of the countryside

A place for competitive skiing
As i did not bring any hiking gears with me, i did not consider scaling the highest peak in the national park. Damien and I considered doing mountain biking at the area but when we took the vernicular up to Gubalowkai, we could not find a single bike rental despite having a bike trail in the area. They have all sorts of things up there - treetop climb, rockclimbing, gokarts, horse riding, sourvenir shops and even a black sheep on display which i have forgotten to take a photo of it to show aik. We hanged around for a bit before getting back to town and had coffee at Costa. We bought some groceries (for lunch the next day) along the way.

The Tatry's

Dinner was great at this Polish restaurant with this traditional Polish band and waitress in polish traditional costumes. The grilled pork cutlet was really tender and good. However, the air became chilly at night and i was shivering in my Tees.

Hotel Defoe was totally awesome. Our room's balcony faced a stream and the beds were really comfortable. I did a really cool thing of cooking hard-boiled eggs using the electric kettle for lunch the next day. Talking about improvisation...

Zakopane - Donovally - Budapest [10-06-08]

The view from the balcony of our hotel room
After a sumptuous hotel buffet breakfast, it was time for a long bus journey to Budapest. The day was hot and sunny, i was just totally bright red like a lobster. Along the way, i observed that most of the architecture of the Polish houses have a really big triangular roof. We crossed the border easily into Slovakia. There weren't much of a border control around the area. Slovakia is a predominant Christian country country. There were many churches and all of them have a very distinct features like that of a mosque (the dome-like roof). When i mean churches, i mean the Eastern Orthodox churches, not the Protestant churches. This could be seen from the practice of worshipping patron saints. In many of the altars of the church, instead of seeing a crucified Christ, what you get is the icon of the patron saint of the area. In a way, i find no difference between the pagan worship in Taiwan where someone famous in the area dies and immediately a graven image of that person will be revered and worshiped.

We stopped at the Donovally area of Slovakia (close to the Carpathians) to have a lunch picnic.

That's our bus

Then its a long journey down to the borders of Hungary and Slovakia. It was amazing because there werent much immigration control at the borders once again. We entered Budapest and i was surprised to see a couple of Chinese restaurants around. As far as i've remembered, i did not see a single asian at Zakopane. Everything in Budapest seemed old: old roads, old run-down buildings... it looked war-torn. As the bus stopped itself at this carpark beside a completely wasted building and the ground was filled with lots of potholes filled with murky water, i was like "OH MY GOSH". But thankfully the hostel was not as bad as i thought it would be. However, all the signs and warnings of all the frauds that we could encounter in Budapest really got me worried over the personal security issue.

After some rest at the hostel, we embarked on a walking orientation of the city where Marrdy led us to the ATMs and money changers. Just outside the money changer, he has to tickle me from behind and that gave me a shock--> that's really wrong... DON'T DO THAT WHEN YOU KNOW THAT PERSON JUST CHANGED A STASH OF CASH. We went for dinner next - goulash, beef paste and pancakes with lemonade.

This was followed by a night walk and cruise which i kind of regretted going. But i think its really cool to see the 1st McDonald's after the Eastern Bloc. It's really amazing to see how Budapest has transformed itself after WWII and the communism regime.

The castle
The first McDonald's after the eastern bloc
Parliament house
An interesting fact from the guide. The term 'hello' is actually hungarian and it means 'i can hear you'. Back then, when they are over the phone, they use the term 'hello' to mean they can hear the party from the other side. Interesting isn't it?